debonding equipment and methods for debonding temporary bonded wafers

ABSTRACT

A debonder apparatus for debonding a temporary bonded wafer pair includes a clam-shell type reactor, an upper chuck and a lower chuck. The reactor includes first and second isolated chambers. The upper chuck is contained within the first chamber and has a lower surface protruding into the second chamber and an edge configured to be held in fixed position via clamping means. The lower chuck is contained within the second chamber and has an upper surface oriented parallel and opposite to the lower surface of the upper chuck. The debonder apparatus also includes means for holding an unbonded surface of the first wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the lower surface of the upper chuck, and means for pressurizing the first chamber. The first chamber pressurizing means applies pressure onto an upper surface of the upper chuck while the upper chuck edge is held in fixed position via the clamping means, and thereby causes the lower surface of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair to bow downward. The debonder apparatus also includes means for initiating a separation front at a point of the bonding interface of the temporary bonded wafer pair. The debonder apparatus also includes means for pressurizing the second chamber while the first chamber pressure is reduced thereby causing removal of the downward bowing of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair and propagation of the separation front through the entire bond interface. The debonder apparatus also includes means for attaching the unbonded surface of the separated second wafer onto the upper surface of the lower chuck.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/324,888 filed Apr. 16, 2010 and entitled “IMPROVED DEBONDING EQUIPMENT AND METHODS FOR DEBONDING TEMPORARY BONDED WAFERS”, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/761,014 filed on Apr. 15, 2010 and entitled “APPARATUS FOR MECHANICALLY DEBONDING TEMPORARY BONDED SEMICONDUCTOR WAFERS”, which is commonly assigned and the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improved debonding equipment and methods for debonding temporary bonded wafers, and more particularly to industrial-scale debonding equipment based on thermal slide or mechanical separation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several semiconductor wafer processes include wafer thinning steps. In some applications the wafers are thinned down to a thickness of less than 100 micrometers for the fabrication of integrated circuit (IC) devices. Thin wafers have the advantages of improved heat removal and better electrical operation of the fabricated IC devices. In one example, GaAs wafers are thinned down to 25 micrometers to fabricate power CMOS devices with improved heat removal. Wafer thinning also contributes to a reduction of the device capacitance and to an increase of its impedance, both of which result in an overall size reduction of the fabricated device. In other applications, wafer thinning is used for 3D-Integration bonding and for fabricating through wafer vias.

Wafer thinning is usually performed via back-grinding and/or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). CMP involves bringing the wafer surface into contact with a hard and flat rotating horizontal platter in the presence of a liquid slurry. The slurry usually contains abrasive powders, such as diamond or silicon carbide, along with chemical etchants such as ammonia, fluoride, or combinations thereof. The abrasives cause substrate thinning, while the etchants polish the substrate surface at the submicron level. The wafer is maintained in contact with the abrasives until a certain amount of substrate has been removed in order to achieve a targeted thickness.

For wafer thicknesses of over 200 micrometers, the wafer is usually held in place with a fixture that utilizes a vacuum chuck or some other means of mechanical attachment. However, for wafer thicknesses of less than 200 micrometer and especially for wafers of less than 100 micrometers, it becomes increasingly difficult to mechanically hold the wafers and to maintain control of the planarity and integrity of the wafers during thinning. In these cases, it is actually common for wafers to develop microfractures and to break during CMP.

An alternative to mechanical holding of the wafers during thinning involves attaching a first surface of the device wafer (i.e., wafer processed into a device) onto a carrier wafer and thinning down the exposed opposite device wafer surface. The bond between the carrier wafer and the device wafer is temporary and is removed upon completion of the thinning and any other processing steps.

Several debonding methods and equipment have been suggested. However, in many cases the thinned wafers break during the debonding process. Accordingly, there is a need for a controlled debonding process in order to avoid breakage of the thinned wafers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improved debonding equipment and methods for debonding temporary bonded wafers, and more particularly to industrial-scale debonding equipment based mechanical separation.

In general, in one aspect, the invention features a debonder apparatus for debonding a temporary bonded wafer pair that includes a first wafer bonded to a second wafer at a bonding interface. The debonder apparatus includes a clam-shell type reactor, an upper chuck and a lower chuck. The reactor includes first and second isolated chambers. The upper chuck is contained within the first chamber and has a lower surface protruding into the second chamber and an edge configured to be held in fixed position via clamping means. The lower chuck is contained within the second chamber and has an upper surface oriented parallel and opposite to the lower surface of the upper chuck. The debonder apparatus also includes vacuum means for holding an unbonded surface of the first wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the lower surface of the upper chuck, and means for pressurizing the first chamber. The first chamber pressurizing means applies pressure onto an upper surface of the upper chuck while the upper chuck edge is held in fixed position via the clamping means, and thereby causes the lower surface of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair to bow downward. The debonder apparatus also includes means for initiating a separation front at a point of the bonding interface of the temporary bonded wafer pair. The debonder apparatus also includes means for pressurizing the second chamber while the first chamber pressure is reduced thereby causing removal of the downward bowing of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair and propagation of the separation front through the entire bond interface. The debonder apparatus also includes vacuum means for attaching the unbonded surface of the separated second wafer onto the upper surface of the lower chuck.

Implementations of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. The separation front is initiated at an edge of the wafer pair. The means for initiating separation comprises an air knife, or means for pushing sidewise the first or the second wafer. The temporary bonded wafer is attached to a frame and the means for initiating separation comprises means for pushing up the frame. The upper chuck comprises a circular edge. The clamping means comprise mechanical clamps or vacuum clamps. The means for pressurizing the first and second chambers comprises means for evacuating the first and second chambers and means for filling the first and second chamber with a pressurized gas. The pressurized gas may be nitrogen. The first wafer is stacked upon and is temporarily bonded to the second wafer via an adhesive layer and a release layer. The upper and lower chucks comprise porous ceramic material through which vacuum is drawn for attaching the unbonded surfaces of the first and second wafers, respectively.

In general, in another aspect, the invention features a method for debonding a temporary bonded wafer pair including the following steps. First, providing a debonder apparatus wherein the apparatus comprises a clam-shell type reactor comprising first and second isolated chambers, an upper chuck contained within the first chamber and comprising a lower surface protruding into the second chamber and an edge configured to be held in fixed position via clamping means, and a lower chuck contained within the second chamber and having an upper surface oriented parallel and opposite to the lower surface of the upper chuck. Next, attaching an unbonded surface of the first wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the lower surface of the upper chuck via vacuum means. Next, pressurizing the first chamber and thereby applying pressure onto an upper surface of the upper chuck while the upper chuck edge is held in fixed position via the clamping means, and thereby causing the lower surface of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair to bow downward. Next, initiating a separation front at a point of the bonding interface of the temporary bonded wafer pair, and then pressurizing the second chamber while the first chamber pressure is reduced thereby causing removal of the downward bowing of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair and propagation of the separation front through the entire bond interface. Finally, attaching the unbonded surface of the separated second wafer onto the upper surface of the lower chuck via vacuum means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the figures, wherein like numerals represent like parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is an overview schematic diagram of the improved temporary wafer bonder system according to this invention;

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of temporary wafer bonding process A and debonding process A performed in bonder module A and debonder A of FIG. 1, respectively;

FIG. 1B depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of the bonder module A of FIG. 1 and a list of the process steps for performing the temporary wafer bonding process A of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of temporary wafer bonding process B and debonding process B performed in bonder module B and debonder B of FIG. 1, respectively;

FIG. 2B depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of the bonder module B of FIG. 1 and a list of the process steps for performing the temporary wafer bonding process B of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of temporary wafer bonding process C and debonding process C performed in bonder module C and debonder C of FIG. 1, respectively;

FIG. 3B depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of the bonder module C of FIG. 1, and a list of the process steps for performing the temporary wafer bonding process C of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 depicts a view of a fixture chuck;

FIG. 5 depicts the temporary wafer bonder cluster of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 depicts a closer view of the upper structure of the temporary wafer bonder cluster of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 depicts a cross-sectional view of the upper structure of the temporary wafer bonder cluster of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 depicts the hot plate module of the temporary wafer bonder cluster of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 depicts a temporary bond module of the wafer bonder cluster of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 depicts a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the temporary bonder module of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 depicts a cross-sectional view of the temporary wafer bonder module of FIG. 9 perpendicular to the load direction;

FIG. 12 depicts a cross-sectional view of the temporary wafer bonder module of FIG. 9 in line with the load direction;

FIG. 13 depicts the top chuck leveling adjustment in the temporary wafer bonder module of FIG. 9;

FIG. 14 depicts a cross-sectional view of the top chuck of the temporary wafer bonder module of FIG. 9;

FIG. 15 depicts a detailed cross-sectional view of the temporary wafer bonder module of FIG. 9;

FIG. 16 depicts a wafer centering device with the pre-alignment arms in the open position;

FIG. 17 depicts wafer centering device of FIG. 16 with the pre-alignment arms in the closed position;

FIG. 18A depicts the pre-alignment of a 300 mm wafer;

FIG. 18B depicts the pre-alignment of a 200 mm wafer;

FIG. 19A depicts another wafer centering device for the pre-alignment of a 300 mm wafer;

FIG. 19B depicts the wafer centering device of FIG. 19A for the pre-alignment of a 200 mm wafer;

FIG. 19C depicts another wafer centering device for the pre-alignment of a wafer with the rotating arms in the open position;

FIG. 19D depicts the wafer centering device of FIG. 19C with the rotating arms in the closed position;

FIG. 20A, FIG. 20B and FIG. 20C depict the loading of the non-adhesive substrate and its transfer to the upper chuck;

FIG. 21A, FIG. 21B and FIG. 21C depict the loading of the adhesive substrate and its transfer to the lower chuck;

FIG. 22A and FIG. 22B depict bringing the adhesive substrate in contact with the non-adhesive substrate and the formation of a temporary bond between the two substrates;

FIG. 23 depicts an overview diagram of the thermal slide debonder A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 24 depicts a cross-sectional view of the top chuck assembly of the debonder A of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 depicts a cross-sectional side view of the debonder A of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25A depicts a schematic cross-sectional side view of another embodiment of the thermal slide debonder A;

FIG. 26A, FIG. 26B and FIG. 26C depict the thermal slide debonder A operational steps;

FIG. 27 depicts an overview diagram of the mechanical debonder B of FIG. 1;

FIG. 28 depicts a cross-sectional side view of the mechanical debonder B of FIG. 27; and

FIG. 29 depicts the operational steps of debonder B;

FIG. 30 depicts an overview diagram of another embodiment of the mechanical debonder B;

FIG. 31-FIG. 41 depict the operational steps of the mechanical debonder of FIG. 30;

FIG. 42A depicts a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the mechanical debonder B;

FIG. 42B depicts a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the mechanical debonder B;

FIG. 43 depicts a first embodiment of a new debonder apparatus;

FIG. 44A-44E depict the operational steps of the new debonder apparatus of FIG. 43.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an improved apparatus for temporary wafer bonding 100 includes a temporary bonder cluster 110 and a debonder cluster 120. The temporary bonder cluster 110 includes temporary bonder module A, module B, module C, and module D, 210, 310, 410 and 510 respectively. Debonder cluster 120 includes a thermal slide debonder A 150, a mechanical debonder B 250 and a radiation /mechanical debonder C 350. Bonder cluster 110 facilitates the temporary bonding processes A, B, C, and D, 60 a, 70 a, 80 a and 90 a, shown in FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A, FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4, respectively, among others. Debonder cluster 120 facilitates the debonding processes A, B and C, 60 b, 70 b, 80 b, shown in FIG. 1A, FIG. 2A and FIG. 3A, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 1A, temporary bond process A 60 a includes the following steps. First, device wafer 20 is coated with a protective coating 21 (62), the coating is then baked and chilled (63) and then the wafer is flipped (64). A carrier wafer 30 is coated with an adhesive layer 31 (65) and then the coating is baked and chilled (66). In other embodiments, a dry adhesive film is laminated onto the carrier wafer, instead of coating an adhesive layer. Next, the flipped device wafer 20 is aligned with the carrier wafer 30 so that the surface of the device wafer with the protective coating 20 a is opposite to the surface of the carrier wafer with the adhesive layer 30 a (67) and then the two wafers are bonded (68) in temporary bonder module A, shown in FIG. 1B. The bond is a temporary bond between the protective layer 21 and the adhesive layer 31. In other embodiments, no protective coating is applied onto the device wafer surface and the device wafer surface 20 a is directly bonded with the adhesive layer 31. Examples of device wafers include GaAs wafers, silicon wafers, or any other semiconductor wafer that needs to be thinned down to less than 100 micrometers. These thin wafers are used in military and telecommunication applications for the fabrication of power amplifiers or other power devices where good heat removal and small power factor are desirable. The carrier wafer is usually made of a non-contaminating material that is thermally matched with the device wafer, i.e., has the same coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Examples of carrier wafer materials include silicon, glass, sapphire, quartz or other semiconductor materials. The diameter of the carrier wafer is usually the same as or slightly larger than the diameter of the device wafer, in order to support the device wafer edge and prevent cracking or chipping of the device wafer edge. In one example, the carrier wafer thickness is about 1000 micrometers and the total thickness variation (TTV) is 2-3 micrometers. Carrier wafers are recycled and reused after they are debonded from the device wafer. In one example, adhesive layer 31 is an organic adhesive WaferBOND™ HT-10.10, manufactured by Brewer Science , Missouri, USA. Adhesive 31 is applied via a spin-on process and has a thickness in the range of 9 to 25 micrometers. The spin speed is in the rage of 1000 to 2500 rpm and the spin time is between 3-60 second. After the spin-on application, the adhesive layer is baked for 2 min at a temperature between 100° C. to 150° C. and then cured for 1-3 minutes at a temperature between 160° C. to 220° C. WaferBOND™ HT-10.10 layer is optically transparent and is stable up to 220° C. Appendix A depicts the specification for WaferBOND™ HT-10.10. After the thinning of the exposed device wafer surface 20 b the carrier wafer 30 is debonded via the debond process A 60 b, shown in FIG. 1A. Debond process A 60 b, includes the following steps. First heating the wafer stack 10 until the adhesive layer 31 softens and the carrier wafer 30 slides off from the thinned wafer (69). The WaferBOND™ HT-10.10 debonding time is less than 5 minutes. The thinned wafer 20 is then cleaned, any adhesive residue is stripped away (52) and the thinned wafer is placed in a dicing frame 25 (53) In some embodiments, a small rotational motion (twisting) of the carrier wafer takes place prior to the sliding translational motion.

The temporary bonding (68) of the carrier wafer 30 to the device wafer 20 takes place in temporary bonder module A, 210. Referring to FIG. 1B, the device wafer 20 is placed in the fixture chuck 202 and the fixture chuck is loaded in the chamber 210. The carrier wafer 30 is placed with the adhesive layer facing up directly on the bottom chuck 210 a and the two wafers 20, 30 are stacked and aligned. The top chuck 210 b is lowered down onto the stacked wafers and a low force is applied. The chamber is evacuated and the temperature is raised to 200° C. for the formation of the bond between the protective coating layer 21 and the adhesive layer 31. Next, the chamber is cooled and the fixture is unloaded.

The debond process A 60 b is a thermal slide debond process and includes the following steps, shown in FIG. 1A. The bonded wafer stack 10 is heated causing the adhesive layer 31 to become soft. The carrier wafer is then twisted around axis 169 and then slid off the wafer stack under controlled applied force and velocity (69). The separated device wafer 20 is then cleaned (52) and mounted onto a dicing frame 25 (53).

Referring to FIG. 2A, temporary bond process B 70 a includes the following steps. First, a release layer 22 is formed onto a surface 20 a of the device wafer 20 (72). The release layer is formed by first spin-coating a precursor compound onto the wafer device surface 20 a and then performing Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor deposition (PECVD) in a commercially available PECVD chamber. In one example, the precursor for the release layer is SemicoSil™, a silicon rubber manufactured by Wacker, Germany. The coated device wafer is then spin coated with an adhesive (73) and then flipped (74). Next, a soft layer 32 is spin coated on a surface 30 a of the carrier wafer 30 (76). In one example, soft layer 32 is a hot temperature cross-linking (HTC) silicone elastomer. Next, the flipped device wafer 20 is aligned with the carrier wafer 30 so that the surface 20 a of the device wafer with the release layer 22 is opposite to the surface 30 a of the carrier wafer with the soft layer 32 (77) and then the two wafers are bonded (78) in the temporary bonder module B, shown in FIG. 2B. The temporary bond is formed under vacuum of 0.1 mbar, curing temperature between 150° C. to 200° C. and low applied bond force.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the device wafer 20 is placed in the fixture chuck 202 (shown in FIG. 4) with the adhesive layer facing up. Next, spacers 203 are placed on top of the device wafer 20 and then the carrier wafer 30 is placed on top of the spacers and the assembled fixture chuck 202 is transferred to the bonder module B 310. The chamber is evacuated, the spacers 203 are removed and the carrier wafer 30 is dropped onto the device wafer 20. A low force is applied by purging the chamber with a low pressure gas and the temperature is raised to 200° C. for the formation of the bond. Next, the chamber is cooled and the fixture is unloaded. In other embodiments, the Z-axis 239 moves up and the stacked wafers 20, 30 are brought into contact with the upper chuck 222. The upper chuck 222 may be semi-compliant or non-compliant, as will be described later.

The debond process B 70 b is a mechanical lift debond process and includes the following steps, shown in FIG. 2A. The bonded wafer stack 10 is mounted onto a dicing frame 25 (54) and the carrier wafer 30 is mechanically lifted away from the device wafer 20 (55). The thinned device wafer 20 remains supported by the dicing frame 25.

Referring to FIG. 3A, temporary bond process C, 80 a includes the following steps. First, a surface of the device wafer 20 is coated with an adhesive layer 23 (82). In one example, adhesive layer 23 is a UV curable adhesive LC3200™, manufactured by 3M Company, MN, USA. The adhesive coated device wafer is then flipped (84). Next, a light absorbing release layer 33 is spin coated on a surface 30 a of the carrier wafer 30 (86). In one example, light absorbing release layer 33 is a LC4000, manufactured by 3M Company, MN, USA. Next, the flipped device wafer 20 is aligned with the carrier wafer 30 so that the surface 20 a of the device wafer with the adhesive layer 23 is opposite to the surface 30 a of the carrier wafer 30 with the light absorbing release layer. The two surfaces 20 a and 30 a are brought into contact and the adhesive layer is cured with UV light (87). The two wafers are bonded (88) in temporary bonder module C 410, shown in FIG. 3B. The bond is a temporary bond between the light absorbing release layer 33 and the adhesive layer 23 and is formed under vacuum of 0.1 mbar and low applied bond force. The temporary bonding (88) of the carrier wafer to the device wafer occurs in temporary module C, shown in FIG. 3B.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the carrier wafer 30 with the laser absorbing release layer LTHC layer is placed on the top chuck 412 and held in place by holding pins 413. Next, the device wafer 20 is placed on the bottom chuck 414 with the adhesive layer 23 facing up. Next, the wafers 20, 30 are aligned, the chamber is evacuated, and the top chuck 412 with the carrier wafer 30 is dropped onto the device wafer 20. A low force is applied for the formation of the bond between the release layer 33 and the adhesive layer 23. Next, the bonded wafer stack 10 is unloaded and the adhesive is cured with UV light.

Referring back to FIG. 3A, the debond process C 80 b includes the following steps. The bonded wafer stack 10 is mounted onto a dicing frame 25 (56) and the carrier wafer 30 is illuminated with a YAG laser beam. The laser beam causes the separation of the wafer stack along the release layer 33 (57) and the separated carrier wafer 30 is mechanically lifted away from the device wafer 20 (58). The adhesive layer is peeled away from the device wafer surface 20 a (59) and the thinned device wafer 20 remains supported by the dicing frame 25.

Referring to FIG. 5, temporary bonder cluster 110 includes a housing 101 having an upper cabinet structure 102 stacked on top of a lower cabinet 103. The upper cabinet 102 has a service access side 105 and the lower cabinet has leveling adjustments 104 and transport casters 106. Within the upper cabinet structure 102 the configurable temporary bond process modules 210, 310, 410, 510 are vertically stacked, as shown in FIG. 6. Hot plate modules 130 and cold plate modules 140 are also vertically stacked on top, below or in-between the process modules 210, 310, as shown in FIG. 7. Additional process modules may be included in order to provide further processing functionalities. Examples of the bond process modules include low applied force module, high applied force module, high temperature and low temperature modules, illumination (UV light or laser) modules, high pressure (gas) module, low (vacuum) pressure module and combinations thereof.

Referring to FIG. 9-FIG. 12, temporary bond module 210 includes a housing 212 having a load door 211, an upper block assembly 220 and an opposing lower block assembly 230. The upper and lower block assemblies 220, 230 are movably connected to four Z-guide posts 242. In other embodiments, less than four or more than four Z-guide posts are used. A telescoping curtain seal 235 is disposed between the upper and lower block assemblies 220, 230. A temporary bonding chamber 202 is formed between the upper and lower assemblies 220, 230 and the telescoping curtain seal 235. The curtain seal 235 keeps many of the process components that are outside of the temporary bonding chamber area 202 insulated from the process chamber temperature, pressure, vacuum, and atmosphere. Process components outside of the chamber area 202 include guidance posts 242, Z-axis drive 243, illumination sources, mechanical pre-alignment arms 460 a, 460 b and wafer centering jaws 461 a, 461 b, among others. Curtain 235 also provides access to the bond chamber 202 from any radial direction.

Referring to FIG. 11, the lower block assembly 230 includes a heater plate 232 supporting the wafer 20, an insulation layer 236, a water cooled support flange 237 a transfer pin stage 238 and a Z-axis block 239. Heater plate 232 is a ceramic plate and includes resistive heater elements 233 and integrated air cooling 234. Heater elements 233 are arranged so the two different heating zones are formed. A first heating zone 233B is configured to heat a 200 mm wafer or the center region of a 300 mm wafer and a second heating zone 233A is configured to heat the periphery of the 300 mm wafer. Heating zone 233A is controlled independently from heating zone 233B in order to achieve thermal uniformity throughout the entire bond interface 405 and to mitigate thermal losses at the edges of the wafer stack. Heater plate 232 also includes two different vacuum zones for holding wafers of 200 mm and 300 mm, respectively. The water cooled thermal isolation support flange 237 is separated from the heater plate by the insulation layer 236. The transfer pin stage 238 is arranged below the lower block assembly 230 and is movable supported by the four posts 242. Transfer pin stage 238 supports transfer pins 240 arranged so that they can raise or lower different size wafers.

In one example, the transfer pins 240 are arranged so that they can raise or lower 200 mm and 300 mm wafers. Transfer pins 240 are straight shafts and, in some embodiments, have a vacuum feed opening extending through their center, as shown in FIG. 15. Vacuum drawn through the transfer pin openings holds the supported wafers in place onto the transfer pins during movement and prevents misalignment of the wafers.

The Z-axis block 239 includes a precision Z-axis drive 243 with ball screw, linear cam design, a linear encoder feedback 244 for submicron position control, and a servomotor 246 with a gearbox, shown in FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 13, the upper block assembly 220 includes an upper ceramic chuck 222, a top static chamber wall 221 against which the curtain 235 seals with seal element 235 a, a 200 mm and a 300 mm membrane layers 224 a, 224 b, and three metal flexure straps 226 arranged circularly at 120 degrees. The membrane layers 224 a, 224 b, are clamped between the upper chuck 222 and the top housing wall 213 with clamps 215 a, 215 b, respectively, and form two separate vacuum zones 223 a, 223 b designed to hold 200 mm and 300 mm wafers, respectively, as shown in FIG. 14. Membrane layers 224 a, 224 b are made of elastomer material or metal bellows. The top ceramic chuck 222 is highly flat and thin. It has low mass and is semi-compliant in order to apply uniform pressure upon the wafer stack 10. The top chuck 222 is lightly pre-loaded with membrane pressure against three adjustable leveling clamp/drive assemblies 216. Clamp/drive assemblies 216 are circularly arranged at 120 degrees. The top chuck 222 is initially leveled while in contact with the lower ceramic heater plate 232, so that it is parallel to the heater plate 232. The three metal straps 226 act a flexures and provide X-Y-T (Theta) positioning with minimal Z-constraint. The clamp/drive assemblies 216 also provide a spherical Wedge Error Compensating (WEC) mechanism that rotates and/or tilts the ceramic chuck 222 around a center point corresponding to the center of the supported wafer without translation.

The loading and pre-alignment of the wafers is facilitated with the mechanical centering device 460, shown in FIG. 16. Centering device 460 includes two pre-alignment arms 460 a, 460 b, shown in the open position in FIG. 16 and in the closed position in FIG. 17. At the ends of each arm 460 a, 460 b there are mechanical jaws 461 a, 461 b. The mechanical jaws 461 a, 461 b have tapered surfaces 462 and 463 that conform to the curved edge of the 300 mm wafer and 200 mm wafer, respectively, as shown in FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B.

In another embodiment, the loading and pre-alignment of the wafers is facilitated with wafer centering device 470, shown in FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B. Wafer centering device 470 includes three centering linkages 471, 472, 473. Centering linkage 471 includes a rectilinear mid-position air bearing or mechanical slide 471 a that moves the wafer 30 in the Y-direction. Centering linkages 472, 473, include rotating centering arms 472 a, 473 a, that rotate clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively. The motions of the centering linkages 471, 472, 473, are synchronized by the use of a cam plate 474 with two linear cam profiles 474 a, 474 b. Cam profile 474 a provides rectilinear motion for the mid-position centering arm 471 and cam profile 474 b provides rectilinear motion for left and right centering arm push rods 472 b, 473 b. The rectilinear motion of the push rods 472 b, 473 b, is translated into rotary motion at the cam/cam follower interface at the centering arms 472 a, 473 a, respectively. The cam plate is 474 fixed to a linear slide that is driven in a rectilinear motion (X-axis motion) by an electric motor or pneumatic actuation. A Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) or another electrical sensor at the mid-position centering arm 471 mechanism provides distance feedback, which indicates that the centering devices are stopped against the wafer edge. There is a spring preload on the centering device 471 a, and when the spring preload is overtaken the LVDT registers a displacement.

In yet another embodiment, the loading and pre-alignment of the wafer 30 is facilitated with wafer centering device 480, shown in FIG. 19C and FIG. 19D. Wafer centering device 400 includes three centering linkages 481, 482, 483. Centering linkage 481 includes a rectilinear mid-position air bearing or mechanical slide 481 a that moves the wafer 30 in the Y-direction. Centering linkages 482, 483, include rotating centering arms 482 a, 483 a, that rotate clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, and push rods 482 b, 483 b. The motions of the centering linkages 481, 482, 483, are synchronized by the use of two plates 484, 485 that include linear cam profiles 484 a, 484 b, respectively. Cam profiles 484 a, 485 a provide rectilinear motion for left and right centering arm push rods 482 b, 483 b, respectively. The rectilinear motion of the push rods 482 b, 483 b, is translated into rotary motion at the cam/cam follower interface at the centering arms 482 a, 483 a, respectively. Plates 484, 485 are connected to linear slide 481 a via rods 481 a, 481 b, respectively. The linear motion of slide 481 a in the Y direction is translated via the rods 481 a, 481 b, into linear motion of plates 484, 485, respectively, along the X-axis, as shown in FIG. 19D.

Referring to FIG. 20A, FIG. 20B, FIG. 20C, the temporary bonding operation with the bonder module 210 includes the following steps. First, the non-adhesive substrate is loaded onto the transfer pins 240 a by a robot end effector (350). In this case the substrate is a 300 mm wafer and is supported by the 300 mm pins 240 a, whereas the 200 mm pins 240 b are shown to be slightly lower than the 300 mm pins 240 a. Next, the mechanical taper jaws 461 a, 461 b, move into position around the wafer and the transfer pins 240 a move down (352). The transfer pins have vacuum and purge functions. The purge function allows the wafer to float during the centering cycle and the vacuum function holds the wafer when the centering is complete. The tapered “funnel” jaws 461 a, 461 b, 461 c, drive the wafer to the center as it is lowered via the transfer pins 240 a. Jaws 461 a, 461 b, 461 c, are designed to accommodate and pre-align any size wafers, including 200 mm and 300 mm, shown in FIGS. 19 and 18, respectively. Next, the centering jaws 461 a, 461 b, 461 c retract and the transfer pins move up to place the top substrate 20 on the upper vacuum chuck 222, as shown in FIG. 20C (354). Next, a second adhesive coated substrate 30 is loaded face up onto the transfer pins 240 a by the robot end effector (356), shown in FIG. 21A (356). Next, the mechanical taper jaws 460 move into position around the wafer 30 and the transfer pins 240 a move down and then up (358), shown in FIG. 21B. The centering jaws 461 a, 461 b retract and the transfer pins 240 a move down to place the substrate 30 on the bottom vacuum chuck 232 (359), shown in FIG. 21C. Next, the lower heater stage 230 moves up to form a close process gap between the top 20 and bottom 30 substrates and the curtain seal 235 is closed to form the temporary bonding chamber 202 (360), shown in FIG. 22A. An initial deep vacuum is drawn (10-4 mbar) in the temporary bonding chamber 202 while the top substrate with 20 is held via mechanical fingers. Once the set vacuum level is reached the chamber pressure is raised slightly to about 5 mbar to generate a differential vacuum pressure that holds the top substrate 20 to the upper chuck 222. The Z-axis stage 239 moves further up to bring the bottom substrate 30 in contact with the top substrate 20, a shown in FIG. 22B (362). The top chuck 222 is lifted off from the stops 216 by this motion (362). Next, force is applied via the top membrane 224 a and bottom top chuck 232 and the wafer stack 10 are heated to the process temperature (364). In one example, the applied force is in the range between 500 N to 8000N and the process temperature is 200 C. In cases where single sided heating is used, the wafer stack 10 is compressed with the membrane pressure to ensure good thermal transfer. After the end of the treatment, the bonded wafer stack 10 is cooled and unloaded with the help of the transfer pins and the robot end effector (366).

In the above described case, the Z-axis moves up to contact the thin, semi-compliant upper chuck 222/membrane 224 design. In this embodiment, the adhesive layer controls the TTV/tilt by applying pressure only in the direction perpendicular to the bond interface via the membranes/chuck flexures and by using a semi compliant chuck to conform to the adhesive topography. In other embodiments, the Z-axis moves up to contact a non-compliant chuck. In these cases the Z-axis motion controls the final thickness of the adhesive layer and forces the adhesive to conform to the rigid flat chuck 222. The adhesive layer thickness may be controlled by using a Z-axis position control, pre-measured substrate thicknesses and known adhesive thicknesses. In yet other embodiments, a compliant layer is installed on the bottom chuck 232 and the adhesive is pre-cured or its viscosity is adjusted. In yet other embodiments, heat is applied both through the bottom and top chucks.

Thermal Slide Debonder

Referring to FIG. 23, thermal slide debonder 150 includes a top chuck assembly 151, a bottom chuck assembly 152, a static gantry 153 supporting the top chuck assembly 151, an X-axis carriage drive 154 supporting the bottom chuck assembly 152, a lift pin assembly 155 designed to raise and lower wafers of various diameters including diameters of 200 mm and 300 mm, and a base plate 163 supporting the X-axis carriage drive 154 and gantry 153.

Referring to FIG. 24, the top chuck assembly 151 includes a top support chuck 157 bolted to gantry 153, a heater support plate 158 in contact with the bottom surface of the top support chuck 157, a top heater 159 in contact with the bottom surface of the heater plate 158, a Z-axis drive 160 and a plate leveling system for leveling the upper wafer plate/heater bottom surface 164. The plate leveling system includes three guide shafts 162 that connect the top heater 159 to the top support chuck 157 and three pneumatically actuated split clamps 161. The plate leveling system provides a spherical Wedge Error Compensating (WEC) mechanism that rotates and/or tilts the upper wafer plate 164 around a center point corresponding to the center of the supported wafer without translation. The heater 159 is a steady state heater capable to heat the supported wafer stack 10 up to 350° C. Heater 159 includes a first heating zone configured to heat a 200 mm wafer or the center region of a 300 mm wafer and a second heating zone configured to heat the periphery of the 300 mm wafer. The first and second heating zones are controlled independently from each other in order to achieve thermal uniformity throughout the entire bond interface of the wafer stack and to mitigate thermal losses at the edges of the wafer stack. The heater support plate 158 is water cooled in order to provide thermal isolation and to prevent the propagation of any thermal expansion stresses that may be generated by the top heater 159.

Referring to FIG. 25, the bottom chuck 152 is made of a low thermal mass ceramic material and is designed to slide along the X-axis on top of the air bearing carriage drive 154. The carriage drive 154 is guided in this X-axis motion by two parallel lateral carriage guidance tracks 156. Bottom chuck 152 is also designed to rotate along its Z-axis 169. A Z-axis rotation by a small angle (i.e., twisting) is used to initiate the separation of the wafers, as will be described below. The base plate 163 is vibration isolated. In one example, base plate is made of granite. In other examples base plate 156 has a honeycomb structure and is supported by pneumatic vibration isolators (not shown).

Referring to FIG. 26A, FIG. 26B, FIG. 26C, the debonding operation with the thermal slide debonder 150 of FIG. 23 includes the following steps. First, the temporary bonded wafer stack 10 is loaded on the primary lift pins 155 arranged so that the carrier wafer 30 is on the top and the thinned device wafer 20 is on the bottom (171). Next, the wafer stack 10 is lowered so that the bottom surface of the thinned device wafer 20 is brought into contact with the bottom chuck 152 (172). The bottom chuck 152 is then moved along the 165 a direction until it is under the top heater 159 (174). Next, the Z-axis 160 of the top chuck 151 moves down and the bottom surface 164 of the top heater 159 is brought into contact with the top surface of the carrier wafer 30 and then air is floated on top heater 159 and carrier wafer 30 until the carrier wafer stack 30 reaches a set temperature. When the set temperature is reached, vacuum is pulled on the carrier wafer 30 so that is held by the top chuck assembly 151 and the guide shafts 162 are locked in the split clamps 162 (175). At this point the top chuck 151 is rigidly held while the bottom chuck 152 is compliant and the thermal slide separation is initiated (176) by first twisting the bottom chuck 152 and then moving the X-axis carriage 154 toward the 165 b direction away from the rigidly held top chuck assembly 151 (177). The debonded thinned device wafer 20 is carried by the X-axis carriage 154 to the unload position where it is lifted up by the pins (178) for removal (179). Next, the X-axis carriage 154 moves back along direction 165 a (180). Upon reaching the position under the top chuck assembly 151, the lift pins 155 are raised to contact the adhesive side of the carrier wafer 30 and air is purged onto the heater plate 159 to release the carrier wafer from it (181). The lift pins 155 are lowered to a height just above the bottom chuck plane so as to not contaminated the bottom chuck top surface with the adhesive (182) and the X-axis carriage 154 moves along 165 b back to the unload position. The carrier wafer is cooled and then removed (183).

Referring to FIG. 25 A in an improved thermal slide debonder 500 the bottom chuck 152 is supported by a Z-stage 501 and support arms 502 a, 502 b and 502 c. The thinned wafer pair 10 is placed on top of bottom chuck 152 with the thinned device wafer 20 being in contact with the bottom chuck 152 and the carrier wafer 30 facing the top chuck assembly 151. When the set temperature is reached in the above mentioned step (175) and vacuum is pulled on the carrier wafer 30 so that is held by the top chuck assembly 151 the Z-stage 501 is preloaded with a small force F1 503 pulling the bottom chuck 152 down in the direction 504 to a distance of about 0.5 mm from the center of the thinned wafer 20. At this point the top chuck 151 is rigidly held while the bottom chuck 152 is compliant in the Z-direction 504 (while being laterally stiff in the 165 a direction) and the thermal slide separation is initiated (176) by first twisting the bottom chuck 152 and then pulling the Z-stage 501 toward the 165 b direction away from the rigidly held top chuck assembly 151 (177). A load cell 506 (shown in FIG. 25) measures the horizontal force F2 505 that pulls the Z-stage 501 and therefore it measures the resistance of the debonding force. After the debonding of the thinned device wafer 20 from the carrier wafer 30 the bottom chuck 152 with the device wafer 20 is lowered on the X-axis carriage 154 and moved along the lateral carriage guidance rails 156. Horizontal force F2 505 may be maintained constant or varied by controlling the velocity of the X-axis motion.

In one example, a 200 mm wafer is pulled in the X-direction 165 b with a traverse velocity of about 2 mm/sec for a distance of about 50 mm. Next, the traverse velocity is increased to 4 mm/sec for a distance of about 75 mm and then the traversed velocity is increased to 6 mm/sec for distance of 75 mm. The wafer is also twisted with a rotational velocity of 0.5 degrees per second for about 30 degrees. In some embodiments the wafer pair 10 is preheated prior to the debonding step to prevent thermal shock.

Mechanical Debonder

Referring to FIG. 2A, mechanical debonder B 250 debonds the carrier wafer 30 from the thinned device wafer 20 by mechanically lifting an edge 31 of the carrier wafer 30 away from the thinned device wafer 20. Prior to the debonding process the temporary bonded wafer stack 10 is attached to a frame 25, and upon separation the thinned wafer remains supported by the frame 25. Referring to FIG. 27 and FIG. 28, debonder 250 includes a flex plate 253 with a two zone circular vacuum seal 255. Seal 255 includes two zones, one for a sealing a 200 mm wafer placed within the area surrounded by the seal and a second for sealing a 300 mm wafer within the area surrounded by the seal. Seal 255 is implemented either with an O-ring or with suction cups. A lift pin assembly 254 is used to raise or lower the separated carrier wafer 30 that is transported by the flex plate 253. Debonder 250 also includes a vacuum chuck 256. Both the vacuum chuck 256 and the flex plate 253 are arranged next to each other upon a support plate 152, which in turn is supported by the base plate 251. Flex plate 253 has an edge 253 b connected to a hinge 263 that is driven by a hinge motor drive 257. Vacuum chuck 256 is made of a porous sintered ceramic material and is designed to support the separated thin wafer 20. Hinge motor drive 257 is used to drive the flex plate 253 upon the wafer stack 10 after the wafer stack 10 has been loaded on the vacuum chuck 256. An anti-backlash gear drive 258 is used to prevent accidental backing of the flex plate 253. A debond drive motor 259 is attached at the edge 251 a of the base plate 251 and next to the edge of the chuck support plate 252 a. Debond drive motor 259 moves a contact roller 260 vertical to the plane of the base plate 251 in direction 261 and this motion of the contact roller 260 lifts the edge 253 a of the flex plate 253 after the flex plate has been placed upon the loaded wafer stack 10, as will be described below.

Referring to FIG. 29, the debonding operation 270 with the debonder 250 includes the following steps. First, The tape frame 25 with the wafer stack 10 is loaded upon the vacuum chuck 256, so that the carrier wafer 30 is on the top and the thinned wafer 20 is on the bottom (271). The tape frame 25 is indexed against the frame registration pins 262, shown in FIG. 28, and the position of the tape frame 25 is locked. Next, vacuum is pulled through the porous vacuum chuck 256 to hold the tape frame adhesive film. Next, the hinge motor 257 is engaged to transport the flex plate 253 onto the loaded wafer stack, so that it is in contact with the back of the carrier wafer 30 (272). Upon reaching the position upon the carrier wafer 30, vacuum is pulled on the carrier wafer top via the seal 255. The torque of the hinge motor 257 is kept constant to maintain the flex plate 253 in this “closed position”. Next, the debond motor 259 is engaged to move the contact roller 260 up in the direction 261 a and to push the edge 253 a of the flex plate 253 up (273). This upward motion of the flex plate edge 253 a bents (or flexes) slightly the carrier wafer 30 and cause the wafer stack 10 to delaminate along the release layer 32 and thereby to separate the carrier wafer 30 from the thinned wafer 20. Silicon wafers break or cleave much easier along the (110) crystallographic plane than any other orientation. Therefore, the carrier wafer 30 is fabricated on a (110) plane so that its 110 direction is perpendicular to the push direction 261 a, thereby preventing breaking of the wafer 30 during delamination. The thinned wafer 20 remains attached to the tape frame 25, which is held by the vacuum chuck 256. Through this step the debond motor 259 is held constant in position. Next, the hinge motor drive 257 opens the flex plate 253 with the attached separated carrier wafer 30 in the “open position”, in a controlled manner (274). The flex plate vacuum is released thereby releasing the carrier wafer 30. Next, the lift pins 254 are moved up to raise the carrier wafer 30 oriented so that the release layer 32 is facing up and then the carrier wafer 30 is removed. Next, the vacuum through the porous vacuum chuck 256 is released and the tape 25 with the attached thinned wafer 20 is removed.

Referring to FIG. 30-FIG. 33, in a second embodiment of the mechanical debonder 600, a resistance roller 610 is used to apply a downward force upon flex plate 253 while contact roller 260 pushes up and lifts the edge 253 a of the flex plate 253. In this embodiment, the bonded wafer pair 10 and the debonded device wafer 20 and carrier wafer 30 are loaded and removed from the debonder from the same direction 620. Debonder 600 includes a flex plate 253 with multi-zone circular vacuum seals 255. Seals 255 include at least two zones, one for a sealing a 200 mm wafer placed within the area surrounded by the seal and a second for sealing a 300 mm wafer within the area surrounded by the seal, among others. Seals 255 are implemented either with an O-ring or with suction cups. Debonder 600 also includes a vacuum chuck 256, a lift pin assembly 604 and transfer arms 602 a, 602 b, 602 c. In this case the lift pin assembly 604 and transfer arms 602 a, 602 b, 602 c are located around vacuum chuck 256, as shown in FIG. 30. Flex plate 253 has an edge 253 b connected to a hinge 263 that is driven by a hinge motor drive 257. Vacuum chuck 256 is made of a porous sintered ceramic material and is designed to support the bonded wafer pair 10 and the separated thin wafer 20 and carrier wafer 30. Hinge motor drive 257 is used to drive the flex plate 253 upon the wafer stack 10 after the wafer stack 10 has been loaded on the vacuum chuck 256. An anti-backlash gear drive 258 is used to prevent accidental backing of the flex plate 253 (shown in FIG. 28). A debond drive motor 259 is attached at the edge 251 a of the base plate 251 and next to the edge of the chuck support plate 252 a (shown in FIG. 28). Debond drive motor 259 moves a contact roller 260 vertical to the plane of the base plate 251 in direction 261 a and this motion of the contact roller 260 lifts the edge 253 a of the flex plate 253 after the flex plate has been placed upon the loaded wafer stack 10, as will be described below.

Referring to FIG. 30-FIG. 41, the debonding operation with the debonder 600 includes the following steps. First, the tape frame 25 with the wafer stack 10 is loaded on the vacuum chuck 256, so that the carrier wafer 30 is on the top and the thinned wafer 20 is on the bottom (662). The tape frame 25 is indexed against the frame registration pins 262, and the position of the tape frame 25 is locked. Next, vacuum is pulled through the porous vacuum chuck 256 to hold the tape frame adhesive film. Next, the hinge motor 257 is engaged to lower the flex plate 253 onto the loaded wafer stack 10, so that it is in contact with the back of the carrier wafer 30 (664). Upon reaching the contact position with the carrier wafer 30, vacuum is pulled through the seal zone 255 on the carrier wafer top. The torque of the hinge motor 257 is kept constant to maintain the flex plate 253 in this “closed position”. Next, the resistance roller 610 is brought into contact with the top of edge 253 a of the flex plate 253 (666) and a downward flex force 631 is applied (668). Next, the debond motor 259 is engaged to move the contact roller 260 up in the direction 261 a and to push the edge 253 a of the flex plate 253 up with a force 633, while the resistance roller 610 is traversed horizontally along direction 632 (670). The upward motion of the flex plate edge 253 a, under the resistance force 631 of the traversing resistance roller 610, bents (or flexes) slightly the carrier wafer 30 in a controlled way and causes the wafer stack 10 to delaminate along the release layer 32 and thereby to separate the carrier wafer 30 from the thinned wafer 20 (672). Initially force 631 is balanced by force 633 (i.e., they have the same value) and then while the resistance roller 610 is traversed along direction 632, force 633 is reduced so that the angle between the separated carrier wafer 30 and the device wafer 20 remains constant. Next, the flex plate 253 with the attached separated carrier wafer 30 is raised with the hinge motor 257 and the thinned device wafer 20 remains attached to the tape frame 25, which is held by the vacuum chuck 256 (674). Next, the vacuum through the porous vacuum chuck 256 is released and the tape 25 with the attached thinned wafer 20 is unloaded from the direction 620 (676). Next, the transfer arms 602 a, 602 b, 602 c are inserted on chuck 256 (678) and the flex-plate 253 with the carrier wafer 30 is lowered onto the transfer arms 602 a, 602 b, 602 c (680). The vacuum seal is released and the carrier wafer 30 is separated from the flex-plate 253 (682). Finally the carrier wafer 30 is unloaded from the chuck 256, also from direction 620 (684).

In other embodiments, the separation of the bonded wafer stack 10 is initiated by pushing the flex-plate 253 with the carrier wafer 30 horizontally along direction 691, as shown in FIG. 42A, or moving the flex-plate 253 horizontally along direction 692 while pushing down 693 the device wafer edge, as shown in FIG. 42B.

New Debonder Apparatus and Method

Referring to FIG. 43, a new debonder apparatus 700 includes un upper chuck 730 and a lower chuck 720 contained within a clam-cell type reactor having a lower portion 702 and top cover portion 704. Two separate chambers 706 and 708 are formed within the reactor 700 with lower chamber 706 containing the lower chuck 720 and upper chamber 708 containing the upper chuck 730. The lower surface 730 a of the upper chuck protrudes into lower chamber 706. Upper and lower chucks 730,720 are porous ceramics and vacuum is drawn through them making them capable to apply a force along directions 712, 714, respectively, shown in FIG. 44C. Forces 712, 714 are applied throughout the lower surface 730 a and upper surface 720 a of upper and lower chucks 730 and 720, respectively. Forces 712, 714 are used for holding substrates by the upper or lower chucks 730 and 720, respectively. Upper and lower chambers 708, 706 are configured to be filled with a pressurized gas. The pressurized gas applies pressure 711 on the upper surface 730 b of the upper chuck 730 or pressure 716 the top surface 720 a of the lower chuck 720. In one example, pressure 711 and 716 is about 2 bars and the pressurized gas is nitrogen. The outer edges of the upper chuck 730 are held in a fixed position by clamps 725 while pressure 711 is applied. Clamps 725 may be mechanical clamps or vacuum clamps.

In operation, the bonded wafer pair 10 supported on the tape frame 25 is loaded in chamber 708 and is held via vacuum force 712 in contact with the lower surface 730 a of the upper chuck 730, shown in FIG. 44A. Vacuum force 712 is applied in the entire unbonded surface of wafer 30. Next chamber 708 is filled with gas and pressure 711 is applied on the back surface 730 b of chuck 730 by the pressurized gas while the edges of the chuck 730 are held fixed by clamps 725. This causes the lower surface 730 a of chuck 730 and the attached bonded wafer pair 10 to bow downward until it contacts the upper surface 720 a of the lower chuck 720 in point 721, shown in FIG. 44B. At this point separation of the bonded wafer pair 10 is initiated around point 10 a. The separation is initiated via mechanical means, i.e., pushing up of frame 25 or pushing of the carrier wafer 30 sidewise. In other embodiments, the separation is initiated via an air knife. Next, vacuum is drawn through the lower chuck 720 applying a vacuum force 714 on the lower surface of the wafer pair 10, shown in FIG. 44C. Next, the pressure 711 in chamber 708 is reduced causing gradual removal of the downward bowing of the lower chuck surface 730 a and the attached wafer pair 10. Simultaneously the pressure 716 in the lower chamber 706 is increased. The combination of these steps causes the propagation of the separation front that was initiated in point 10 a, throughout the entire bond interface, as shown in FIG. 44D. Finally, pressure 711 is turned off, vacuum force 712 is turned off and then pressure 716 is turned off leaving the separated carrier wafer 30 and thinned device wafer 20 supported upon tape frame 25 on the lower chuck 720, where they are held by vacuum force 714, as shown in FIG. 44E.

Several embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A debonder apparatus for debonding a temporary bonded wafer pair comprising a first wafer bonded to a second wafer at a bonding interface, said debonder apparatus comprising: a clam-shell type reactor comprising first and second isolated chambers; an upper chuck contained within the first chamber and comprising a lower surface protruding into the second chamber and an edge configured to be held in fixed position via clamping means; a lower chuck contained within the second chamber and having an upper surface oriented parallel and opposite to the lower surface of the upper chuck; means for holding an unbonded surface of the first wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the lower surface of the upper chuck; means for pressurizing the first chamber and wherein said first chamber pressurizing means applies pressure onto an upper surface of the upper chuck while the upper chuck edge is held in fixed position via the clamping means, and thereby causes the lower surface of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair to bow downward; means for initiating a separation front at a point of the bonding interface of the temporary bonded wafer pair; means for pressurizing the second chamber while the first chamber pressure is reduced thereby causing removal of the downward bowing of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair and propagation of the separation front through the entire bond interface; and means for holding the unbonded surface of the separated second wafer onto the upper surface of the lower chuck.
 2. The debonder apparatus of claim 1 wherein the separation front is initiated at an edge of the wafer pair.
 3. The debonder apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for initiating separation comprises an air knife.
 4. The debonder apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for initiating separation comprises means for pushing sidewise said first or second wafer.
 5. The debonder apparatus of claim 1 wherein said temporary bonded wafer is attached to a frame and said means for initiating separation comprises means for pushing up said frame.
 6. The debonder apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upper chuck comprises a circular edge.
 7. The debonder apparatus of claim 1, wherein the clamping means comprise mechanical clamps or vacuum clamps.
 8. The debonder apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for pressurizing the first and second chambers comprises means for evacuating the first and second chambers and means for filling the first and second chamber with a pressurized gas.
 9. The debonder apparatus of claim 8 wherein the pressurized gas comprises nitrogen.
 10. The debonder apparatus of claim 1, wherein said first wafer is stacked upon and is temporarily bonded to said second wafer via an adhesive layer and a release layer.
 11. The debonder apparatus of claim 1 wherein said upper and lower chucks comprise porous ceramic material through which vacuum is drawn for attaching the unbonded surfaces of the first and second wafers, respectively.
 12. The debonder apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for holding an unbonded surface of the first wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the lower surface of the upper chuck or said means for holding an unbonded surface of the second wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the upper surface of the lower chuck comprise vacuum.
 13. A method for debonding a temporary bonded wafer pair comprising a first wafer bonded to a second wafer at a bonding interface, said method comprising: providing a debonder apparatus wherein said apparatus comprises a clam-shell type reactor comprising first and second isolated chambers, an upper chuck contained within the first chamber and comprising a lower surface protruding into the second chamber and an edge configured to be held in fixed position via clamping means, and a lower chuck contained within the second chamber and having an upper surface oriented parallel and opposite to the lower surface of the upper chuck; attaching an unbonded surface of the first wafer of the temporary bonded wafer pair onto the lower surface of the upper chuck; pressurizing the first chamber and thereby applying pressure onto an upper surface of the upper chuck while the upper chuck edge is held in fixed position via the clamping means, and thereby causing the lower surface of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair to bow downward; initiating a separation front at a point of the bonding interface of the temporary bonded wafer pair; pressurizing the second chamber while the first chamber pressure is reduced thereby causing removal of the downward bowing of the upper chuck and the attached wafer pair and propagation of the separation front through the entire bond interface; attaching the unbonded surface of the separated second wafer onto the upper surface of the lower chuck.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the separation front is initiated at an edge of the wafer pair.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein said separation is initiated by an air knife.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein said separation is initiated by pushing sidewise said first or second wafer.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein said temporary bonded wafer is attached to a frame and said separation is initiated by pushing up said frame.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the upper chuck comprises a circular edge.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein the clamping means comprise mechanical clamps or vacuum clamps.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second chambers are pressurized by first evacuating the first and second chambers and then filling the first and second chamber with a pressurized gas.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the pressurized gas comprises nitrogen.
 22. The method of claim 13, wherein said first wafer is stacked upon and is temporarily bonded to said second wafer via an adhesive layer and a release layer.
 23. The method of claim 13, wherein said upper and lower chucks comprise porous ceramic material through which vacuum is drawn for attaching the unbonded surfaces of the first and second wafers, respectively.
 24. The method of claim 13 wherein said unbonded surface of the first or second wafer is attached onto the lower surface of the upper chuck or the upper surface of the lower chuck, respectively, via vacuum. 